The nominations have been collated and with only three movies getting five or more nominations, I chose to include all the films that received four nominations as well. I've tried selecting the '3' options per user, so everybody has three votes to cast. I've also ticked the box to enable users to change their vote should the need arise (hope these work). Feel free to reveal and discuss your choices.

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.

well for a start I'm shocked, shocked that Quatermass and the Pit didn't make the final list. That said, the first two were easy - Star Wars changed everything for SF. Everything. The release of SW was a watershed moment for the whole genre. At the time I wasn't much of a fan of it - I was already a SF fan and also a fantasy fan and I didn't really like the way the film mixed the genres up: it seemed neither fish nor fowl - looking back I can see I was too blinkered.

The Matrix was such a great idea and so well made - every shot just seemed perfect with ground breaking SE to boot. My jaw dropped.

then to choose between the rest... 2001, well, you know, no doubting Kubrick was a genius but I always found his pacing to slow. District 9? I can only assume it made the list because its so recent - instantly forgettable minor movie. Terminator 2 - great thrills and spills action adventure, great monster, but too star-driven, take away Arnie and what have you got? Planet of the Apes - good idea, good lead, but I didn't think it was particularly well made. Clse Encounters I enjoyed but that Speilburg surburban cosiness and the special effects ending spoiled it for me.

So the choice came down to between two Ridley Scott movies, both set in corporate dystopias - each in their own way saying that the future is like now, only more so - for me Blade runner was a little too de-focused whilst the focus on Alien was intense. One of the first movies to put gothic horror in space, a truly alien alien for a change.

Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change? ~~ Oddball

Being recent doesn't make a film bad. District 9 is what sci-fi is SUPPOSED to be. using a fictional tale to deal with real world problems and situations. up until the ending the film is essentially a true story told using beings from another world. there really was a sort of invasion of aliens as refugees poured into south africa from other nations. they were segregated into camps. the locals all hated them. thought they were a nuisance, thought they were leading to crime. the shanty town the film takes place in wasn't a set, those were real homes that those refugees were living in. and the evictions really happened because of the locals protesting and wanting them out. The commentary track on the disc is really fascinating and worth a listen.

On top of that the film sets the bar for what a low budget film can look like as far as special effects.

"The reason an author needs to know the rules of grammar isn't so he or she never breaks them, but so the author knows how to break them."